Trying to make Lent meaningful: #40Acts

"He went out to the field one evening to meditate"
Genesis 24: 63

I rarely post about my spiritual life - if you are a regular follower you probably know that I like to craft and sew, that I have children, that I do the odd thing for charity. But I am typically British and reserved about saying anything regarding my religious beliefs. Partly that is because this blog is usually not used as a personal diary, but sometimes I might just express myself a little more frankly, as a Christian. I'm not ashamed of my beliefs, but I certainly don't want to alienate the many people who come to read my blog with no interest in religious matters. Please don't be put off if you are yourself not a Christian. I'm not trying to convert you ;-)

Lent, in Britain at least, seems to me to have become a very shallow time for people to claw back their lost New Year resolutions. In other religions where fasting is involved, the fast is seen explicitly as an opportunity to purify oneself for spiritual purpose, not as a weight-loss tool with moral fringe benefits. I decided that I was not going to pointlessly give up chocolate or wine or whatever, but strive to think about what Lent might really be about. What are we really trying to do during Lent? Perhaps what we give up should be something important, like our time to those who need it, or give up a bad/pernicious habit. I did think I would give up social media but shouldn't that then be replaced with something you want to do, like spend time with family, or reading? In any case, my business is internet based so it seemed impossible!

Luckily just as I had reached that difficult point of not knowing what to do, a friend pointed me towards  40 Acts, a Lenten programme run by Stewardship UK. If you sign up, they will email you each day of Lent with challenges and reflection points. I am hoping to share some of my journey with you. You can also find participants by using #40acts on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter and Instagram.

Act 1 is to create a journal where you write 

 - things you are thankful for today

 - a 'wish list' of the people that you would like to bless throughout the 40acts process

Today I am thankful for so much in my life. The sun has been shining on the garden and I feel so blessed to have the type of life which enables me to stop and enjoy the little things. Today I can see God's creation shine in simple wonder: the wild daffodils growing in the hedge, the smiles of my precious little boy. I know that so many do not have all the priviledges I have been afforded including some of you who might be reading this (and passing out from sheer schmaltz overload). There have been dark times in my life, and quite often a cloud will pass over the sun, but I have all the good things I could have ever hoped for and I hope that I never forget how lucky I am. 

Who would I like to send blessings to? Of course, my family are so precious to me. I could do more for my elderly grandmother who lives so far from here, I pray often for her continuing health and wellbeing. My community and the Church who actually does so much for keeping our village alive, although there are many who do not realise how fundamental the existance of the church community is to the life of the wider community. Finally, I sponsor a little girl in Burundi and my thoughts are often with her as she strives to get an education and help her family survive day to day. 

I wish you all a positive and productive Lent. If you are giving up chocolate I will pray for you - I know I couldn't do it.

Love from Lx

Easter Fall Out

And so after the long weekend where everyone, despite just having recovered from noxious tummy bugs, loaded up on chocolate. Children are great, aren't they, as bounce-backable as a rubber ball. Basically, almost nothing could hold them back from enjoying Easter!

It's been absolutely freeeezing here, but what a joy to get out, see some flowers, frogs mating ('mummy - look that big frog is giving the little one a piggy back') and spring lambs.

Top days out at Hinton Ampner where the National Trust were doing their now traditional Easter Egg Trail. Thankfully this year, not only was there a quiz for the older children, but the trail allowed younger ones to just stamp the boxes. A relief - I can't count the number of quizzes and trails I have been forced to almost entirely do myself because whoever set the quiz didn't quite manage to appreciate the academic level 3 year olds work on. No, they can't spell 'medieval' and neither can they say what type of stone this is built from. Can we just have our chocolate egg now please?

Another interesting place we discovered this holiday was Butser Ancient Farm. A recreation of an Iron Age farming compound, complete with frozen-to-death volunteers huddled around a smoky fire dressed in woollen capes, and some rare breed sheeplings.  Brilliant. Such a great place to show your kids the (very) past. Oldest daughter looks around one roundhouse, at the cooking fire, at the wooden benches and manky furs and promptly says 'I'm so glad I live Now'. They also celebrate some of the pagan rituals there like Imbolc and Samhain, which I imagine is pretty fun if you're into that kind of thing, although I don't know how 'historic' those are. There is also a reconstructed Roman Villa which has a working hypocaust heating system in one area. Nothing says 'ahh finally, civilisation' like finding a heated room on a -2 degree day! If you want to know more about the place, the link above takes you to their website, or you can go to the Wikipedia entry highlighted in the photo caption. It really is a fascinating place, and the staff and volunteers there are obviously really into it too.

Via Wikipedia

Now husband is back at work, the sun is shining and I have all 3 kids for the rest of the holiday on my own. Deep breath! And continue...........

How I prepare for craft fairs

1) make something I was not planning to

2) tweet it

3) go and use Facebook

4) make a list

5) indulge in self hate


6) go back to sewing room at last possible moment and sling it all in a box

Happy Weekend! xx

Last minute Easter - Chocolate Lollies

If you are looking for a delicious - and easy - no bake Easter thingamabob to do with your children this Easter, can I please share with you my recent foray into chocolate lollies. I am sure that there are many other tutorials out there done by stylistically advanced persons who can manage - evenness - beauty - symmettry. But hey, I did these in 15 minutes with a 5 year old and a 1 year old. I dare say that older children could make these completely alone (provided they are old enough to work with melting choc!! Disclaimer: I am not responsible for what disastrous mess ensues from that). Caution: for health and safety reasons I feel I must add - be really careful if you are using boiling water! and with that hot melted choccy. Mmmmm.

You need: 

Tasty chocolate - milk, plain or white according to preference.

Lolly sticks - I used 6 per 150g of chocolate. 

Selection of sprinkles

Clingfilm or a silicon baking sheet

Flat baking tray

First melt the chocolate. I use this ancient technique of putting a bowl on top of a pan of water then heating the water until the choccie melts. I am told that you can melt chocolate in a microwave - but I don't hold with that kind of witchcraft.  

Prepare the baking tray by layering clingfilm or a non-stick baking sheet onto it. Spoon out the chocolate, using the back of the spoon to make thick patches of choc (I tried to achieve egg shapes). While the chocolate is still wet, lay the lolly stick on it (at least 1/3 of stick should be covered) and move it slightly to ensure it's embedded in the choc. 

Hurrying up in case the chocolate dries (! I did this with small children remember) decorate each lolly. Then place the completed tray of lollies in the fridge. They're done as soon as they're cold and hard. Lovely. Look how cute they look, and authentically child engineered. They'd be nice for parties too. I had no problem with the cleaning up either. 

Enjoy xx

New in my shop(s) for Spring!

I don't very often post shop updates here on my blog, as you can get your regular Made by Dolly fix on the Facebook Fan Page. However, I have a few new and seasonal lines starting so I thought I would give you a photo guide of what's new this Spring (so far!)

Large Easter Egg (Detail)
Apple Coin Purse
Small Easter Eggs available at Etsy and Folksy!
Mushroom Coin Purse with gingham loop